Thursday, May 20, 2010

Character Descriptions

Tom Sawyer is a very energetic boy who will do anything to get out of school . He enjoys getting into mischief and he is very clever when it comes to getting out of chores. He enjoys "impressing" girls and has made quite a few girlfriends, but they didn't stay with him for long. He looks up to Huckleberry Finn because hes even more of a miscreant than Tom.
Huckleberry Finn is even more of a troublemaker than Tom and does whatever he wants to, when he pleases. His dad is a drunk and moved away so Huck's all on his own. Sometimes I feel sorry for Huck in the story because I know he wants someone to take care of him. I know, deep inside, he wants to be just like every normal boy out there.
Sid is Tom's younger brother and is always telling on Tom for everything. Tom gives him what he deserves every time he tells on him but Sid just never seems to learn his lesson. All in all, hes the completely and totally exact opposite of his older brother.
Aunt Polly is Tom Sawyers aunt and she is forced to continuously whip Tom every time he gets in trouble. She feels sorry for the boy deeply because of his mother and father's untimely deaths. She knows it must be tough to grow up like that but she soon realizes that Tom is like an un-caged tiger that can't be put back in it's cage no matter how much force it takes.
Injun Joe is the Native-American man that Tom and Huck run into in the graveyard at midnight. Joe is very evil because he murdered a man, Dr. Robinson, and then pretended like it was his friends doing, Muff Sawyer. Tom and Huck know that he can't get away with this treachery, but the two boys are terrified he'll come after them too!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

THE ROOM

Pam Johnson briskly walked along one of the many busy, crowded streets of Langley, Virginia. She was headed to the headquarters of the CIA, which was, as a matter of fact, directly across the street. Her warm hands came in contact with the chilled metal of the huge door in front of her and she recoiled. Pam was always alert, ready for danger even when danger wasn’t ready for her. Walking inside, she exchanged glances with almost everyone inside the building, but in a manner so no one noticed and she was the only one glancing. Pam trusted not one human being on the planet and her tightly bonneted blonde hair, square glasses, her business-like clothes, and her fast paced walk told everyone that noticed her she meant business. She walked up to the elevator and pressed the UP button. She walked inside the elevator, pulled one of her keys out and turned it in the emergency keyhole, then pressed the red button labeled “In Case Of Emergency”. Then, Pam pressed the button combination on the elevator floor list 911. This triggered a series of metal ropes to turn in a way they’re not used to so a hideous metal screeching noise emanated and made Pam almost want to puke. Pam was highly claustrophobic and the grinding of the elevator got to her. She was wrenching the doors open, struggling to get out, but then, the elevator lurched downwards. 20-25 grueling seconds later, there was a DING! a door sliding open, and a relieved Pam stumbled out, happy to be alive.

“Morning Johnson” greeted Alan Blunt when Pam walked inside his office. “You have a new very top secret assignment waiting for you at your desk.” Alan Blunt was the head of CIA, except no one knew that. Above ground was a fake agency posing as the CIA but an underground base was built specifically for highly trained undercover agents. CIA underground bases were at almost every major city in the world but Pam was in the headquarters, so obviously this was the headquarters too. She stepped out of the office and looked around her. This was one of the most top-secret bases known to man and this base was enormous. Because of its underground infrastructure, it was made of the strongest metals, brick, and brimstone and hundreds of people came here every day. It was like an exact replica of the above ground building, except this one was underground. Walking in her brisk manner, Pam arrived at her purposely-spacey office and sat down in her chair. A big fat bunch of papers sat there and she noticed a new paper sticking out. It was labeled “Surry County Power Plant”. Opening up the warm bundle fresh from the printer she read that Surry County was in fact a nuclear power plant and a psychopathic war criminal named discreetly “Surkov” was planning to blow open the reactors and unleash the chemical radiation to all within a 500-mile radius. Pam had only one specific assignment… stop him!

Two hours later, Pam Johnson, or in other words, Alice Mason, (her undercover name) arrived at the power plant quickly. It was a short two-hour drive from Langley. Kim Mason, who had been working at Surry Power Plant all her working career reported suspicious behavior from a specific employee named Jimmy. The name didn’t match up and Kim saw him hanging around the plant after everyone left so she called the police. His picture was linked to the CIA and they found him as Surkov, an insane bomber who created nuclear bombs and unleashed them in the middle east. He escaped after being found and was never seen again… until now. Pam was posing as Kim’s sister, Alice, and was supposedly showing her around the plant. Pam was actually going to stop the plant from exploding. No one could know about the explosion or there would be a full-fledged panic and they would lose Surkov. Not even Kim knew about it. She thought Pam was investigating. “I’m starting to get really scared,” Kim said, “Is this guy like crazy or something?” “Oh no, just the local runaway criminal,” replied Pam, “Nothing to worry about. I’m going to go and check up ahead for him.”
“Oh, ok, please hurry I really, really don’t want to be left alone for too long,” replied Kim. There was a swelling pride inside Pam’s chest and she knew she was starting to trust this nice woman. Big mistake. SLAM! Pam was thrown against the wall, slammed downwards, and held in a tight lock with surprisingly strong hands. “Why? Why would you call for help if you were just going to take me?” screamed the woman held in a tight lock. “We needed to lure someone in to make that pathetic CIA of yours think they were doing something right. Obviously they thought wrong!” cackled Kim. The next thing Kim did was so startling, Pam almost choked in disbelief. Kim tore off a plastic face covering and threw a microphone to the ground, obviously for voice changing purposes. Surkov laughed and smiled and in a thick, middle eastern accent, he said “When I blow this place apart, you’ll be the first one to go! Hahahahaha!” And with that, she was knocked out with a quick punch to the face, thrown into a room, and locked inside. Surkov smiled. His plan was nearly complete.

Ten minutes later, Pam steadily regained consciousness. Looking at her surroundings she found herself in a small tightly cramped room. The peeled paint and slimy, greasy ground caused her to gag and she knew she had to quickly overcome her phobia or it would cost Pam her life. All of her belongings, including her knife and gun had been stripped from her but… Surkov had been careless. Her hair beret remained. She swiftly took it out and attempted to pick the lock but there wasn’t one. She was locked from the inside. Even when throwing herself against the door, nothing happened. The paint was starting to make her gag and it was obvious the fumes were going to render Pam unconscious once again in a few minutes time. The Paint! She stumbled to the wall of peeling paint and recklessly kicked at the wall. If the wall hadn’t been painted for a while, the wall itself must be old. Sure enough, after the fourth heavy kick, the wall collapsed and Pam stepped out. She knew where Surkov was, and she had to stop him.

Surkov stretched and rendered the finishing touches on his last explosive detonator. If you looked at them a certain way, the explosives made a circle around the reactors. “Ring around the rosy, a pocket full of posies,” the psychopathic man hummed to himself, “Ashes, ashes, we all fall down! Hahahahaha!” He fell on his back and cackled a disgustingly evil laugh. “Now to make the finishing touches…” Surkov turned the reactors all the way up to the highest temperature and he knew that his plan was finally complete.

Friday, January 29, 2010

If there were ten words that were not very appropriate in a book that was assigned, I would think it would be O.K. if it were for middle-high schoolers. If it was for an elementary school, it would for sure not be appropriate. It's more content that deserves to be banned because if the kids are shooting up-doing drugs, that's more worrisome than a four letter word.
Also, I think that they should review the book more carefully, like they have a few people read it. If they are stewing over putting a risky book on the list, no risks should be taken. A note home stating what happens in the book and the language used would be a good idea, along with a required parent signature, would cause little parent complaints.
Overall, I think that if precautions are taken, and if the book contains inappropriate words, and not inappropriate content or actions, it should be okay. Also, a note home and an appropriate age such as 13 and above. Following these rules, the parents that don't want their child reading the book can simply not sign the letter and if enough people don't sign the letter, they read a new, non-controversial book.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

today is the 21st of january

Monday, December 14, 2009

A Christmas Carol!!!

Looking out for yourself is important but so is looking out for others. In A Christmas Carol, Scrooge became so infatuated with himself and greed that he only looked out for himself. As greed slowly overtook him, he let go of more and more such as his first true love, his assistant's well being, and his respect for his own nephew. I think that looking out for yourself and looking out for others has equal importance because taking one side and depriving yourself from the other, like Scrooge did, ends disastrously. If people were to follow the philosophy Scrooge took, no one would have friends, no one would have spirit, and no Christmas would ever be the same. Unless you want to be like Scrooge, look out for yourself, but look out for your friends too.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Scrooge's Diary

December 24, 1843
Today was an awful day. My assistant, Bob Cratchit, and I were working when he told me he wanted to know if he had the day off on Christmas. Why would he have the day off? Its stupid and ridiculous to ask for a day off and Christmas is a stupid and boring excuse for a holiday anyway so i refused. He looked sad and I said i would pay him more this week. An extra shilling is pretty generous, I would say! I wish Marley was here. He was the best workmate you could ask for. And even though he made me take a break for Christmas Day, I knew I would never do it again because there's nothing to do. I sat at home all day with nothing to do and was bored as hell. Everybody else was happy and jolly and laughing and clapping and cheering and I didn't understand why. I am getting much more tired as I continue to write this so I must bid farewell. Tomorrow will be the worst day of the year and I will be in the middle of it. Bah Humbug!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The Pearl By John Steinbeck

The pearl is a story of wealth, greed, fortune, and luck and it is a story you will never forget.
When Kino finds the Pearl Of The World, his world is turned around and he finds himself in an interesting position.
He is the wealthiest man in the town and people are jealous.
People want this pearl for themselves...